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Heavy turnout seen at polls across state

Heavy voter turnout was reported across the state Tuesday as Granite Staters headed to the polls to cast their votes for president, governor and representative.

The secretary of state had predicted that about 720,000 people would vote in New Hampshire, but the final number may be higher. In Manchester, people lined up before the polls opened. In Salem, elections officials considered keeping the polls open until 8 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. but they rejected that idea.

Merrimack said it would keep polls open past 7 p.m. Officials said they would close the polls once it was clear that crowds had slowed.

"It's amazing that there are that many people here right at 7 a.m., but it wasn't bad inside at all," said voter Erin Pastore. "It was very easy to get through and very orderly."

There were long lines in Exeter, Merrimack and Contoocook as people prepared to cast their votes. New Hampshire was considered one of a small number of battleground states in the race between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

"I mean it's going to be such a close race, I honestly have no idea what's going to happen," said voter Lauren Marquis.

Despite the lines and the new voter ID law, most voters said things went fairly smoothly. The law requires voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot.

If a voter does not have an ID, they can still vote after filling out a challenged voter affidavit, which will be confirmed at a later date by the secretary of state's office. A hotline has been set up to answer any questions or to file complaints. The numbers for the hotline are 866-868-3703 and 603-715-6355.